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Adrian v BPS

16th April 2015, 21:55:PM

Hello to everyone .
I have been redirected here following Google searches and Daily Mail article on the scandalous methods of British Passport Services .I have a teenager who has been caught out by their website seeking guindance on dealing with them and the validity of their claims /threats.

Hello to everyone .
I have been redirected here following Google searches and Daily Mail article on the scandalous methods of British Passport Services .I have a teenager who has been caught out by their website seeking guindance on dealing with them and the validity of their claims /threats.

Cheers
Adrian

HI Adrian and welcome.

Firstly have you received an official court claim yet or are you at the threat stage?

Either way can you give us a brief timeline of your son's/daughter's experience?

I like your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
And when you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better

Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3-D
It's your favorite foreign movie

Comment

Firstly have you received an official court claim yet or are you at the threat stage?

Either way can you give us a brief timeline of your son's/daughter's experience?

Hello EXC
My daughters accidental encounter with British Passport Services went as follows.
Having a skiing holiday booked with her boyfriends family to meet up in Germany on April 4th the evening before discovers she has not got her passport and assumes it to be lost .I attend Airport (5.00AM April 4th) with daughter and boyfriend with photocopy printout of her passport that I keep on my computer and other docs but not acceptable to passport control .So booked her on a flight the next day in the hope of getting a new passport sorted and boyfriend flies out alone to meet parents.
My daughter (without my knowledge)against my advice has evidently used the above service on arriving back from the airport around (7.00AM) having not read the contract that effectively shows they offer nothing that is not already available at the official passport office .The date for her interview is set as the 9th of April .Her passport subsequently was found later on the 4th at her Mothers home ,my daughter then rang the official passport office and cancelled the appointment booked for her . she then flies out to meet boyfriend the next day on the 5th.

In my daughters absence first letter stating payment is required arrives at my address on approx 10th April followed by another on approx 13th then a formal notice of intended court action sent by recorded mail on 15th.
This is the timeline of events thus far ,hope this helps you to comment and advise.

Comment

Hello EXC
Thanks for the speedy response .Yes we are talking about this April 2015.
The main part of the letter is set out as follows:

"Formal notice of Intended Court Action
Pre-Action Conduct Letter
Dear Ms----
I am writing you regarding the £117.60 fee that you have still not paid our company for the appointment package that we provided you with on:April 4 ,2015 .You can view your contract ,invoice & overdue invoice charges which are now active at:http://-----.signedcontract.org.uk/u-----

It was agreed in the contract that payment for our services would be made within 72hrs we since have contacted you granting an extended payment window to settle this manner but it would appear that you have refused to do so.Therefor please accept this letter sent via registered mail as Pre-Action Conduct and as confirmation that if payment is not received within 14 dayswe reserve the right to issue legal proceedings against you.

It is very disappointing that this matter has escalated to this point but it is currently seen as the only practical way to recover the £117.60 that you guaranteed to pay us within 72hrs of completing the contract. Whilst we remain open to resolving this matter amicably having a impartial District Judge make a judgement based on the facts of who is legally and contractually correct in this matter may be the best way to finally resolve this matter.
DO NOT IGNORE-COURT PROCEEDINGS MAY BE ISSUED IN 14 DAYS -RESPONSE REQUIRED"

The rest of the letter appears to be refering to their bogus free legal services and and scenario`s that are common with this company and their slant on these. The summary states that should the matter not be resolved by April 29,2015 they reserve the right to issue court proceedings .

Hope this is of use for directions on the next stage.

Thanks
Adrian

Comment

As part of the BPS appointment booking process you're required to enter 2 suitable dates for the appointment and also your intended date of travel (which was 4 or 5 April). They claim to have booked an appointment for her at the passport office for 9 April in the knowledge that it was beyond her intended date of travel and as such utterly useless.

They will argue that despite this the small print in the terms & conditions allows them to make the appointment for any date they choose, however it's my view that it is an unfair term.

You should write to them with a formal letter of complaint pointing this out, not that they'll take a blind bit of notice, but it will help demonstrate to the court that you have done the right & reasonable thing by doing so if and when it gets that far.

Also it would be worth checking with whichever passport office that BPS made the appointment at to find out whether there was an appointment made for her. Quite often BPS don't actually book it so if that was the case and you can get it in writing from HMPO it would provide you with an absolute defence.

I like your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
And when you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better

Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3-D
It's your favorite foreign movie

Comment

Get 'em in before the ASA Appeal comes back ? 85% of peeps just paying up... half decent gamble to get some cash in quickly.
( just moving this thread down to the right forum so we don't lose track )

Adrian, As EXC says as that is a letter before action then you should respond to them setting out the issues.

You could respond to say you are her father responding on her behalf as she is overseas until xx date and she will respond in detail at that point.

So issues; the appointment was entirely useless as she required one the next day, not 4 days later.
She believed she was booking an appointment directly with the HM Passport Office and had no intention of contracting with a third party.
She had no requirement for any other services whatsoever.

Sadly whatever you do it is likely a court claim will arrive. But responding to their LBA is a good idea even if they entirely ignore it as it sets out the issues and helps with showing the court that you attempted to resolve matters before court action was necessary.

xx

I'm away till the 24th August - please contact @Kati if needed

“We may not win by protesting, but if we don’t protest we will lose. If we stand up to them, there is always a chance we will win.”Hetty Bower

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Comment

Hello
Thanks again for another speedy reply.
I have contacted the HMPO and it does seem the appointment did exist so unfortunately that route will not work .I will get a formal leter of complaint out to them this week,to set the process moving

Many Thanks
Adrian

1 thank

Comment

That's okay, if your daughter was able to cancel it it is likely it existed.

However, it was an inappropriate appointment and your daughter never intended to contract with BPS - she only wanted to book an appt directly with the HMPO for the next day - she was simply misled into using the BPS site while in the panic of needing to get her Passport quickly as possible.

I'm away till the 24th August - please contact @Kati if needed

“We may not win by protesting, but if we don’t protest we will lose. If we stand up to them, there is always a chance we will win.”Hetty Bower

Any support I provide is offered without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

If we have helped you we'd appreciate it if you can leave a review on our Trust Pilot page

Comment

Hello Exc and Amethyst
Sending off the Formal letter Of Complaint via registered mail tomorrow .We will await the next stages from BPS. Daughter has now returned from her holiday I will gradually hand over to her regarding dealing with this above matter.

Many Thanks
Adrian

3 likes

Comment

So far after sending Formal letter Of Complaint via registered mail on 20th April so far no Respose at all from UK support services .The expected date they advised they would take action was 29th April . Today is 15th May should I assume this is the last I have heard of them or do they have a nasty habit of coming back later than stated?

Comment

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